Jeff Fox: A fresh idea for Grain Valley

The Grain Valley Chamber of Commerce is trying something new – a farmers market to be held on Fridays this spring and summer.

By Jeff Fox - jeff.fox@examiner.net

Examiner

By Jeff Fox - jeff.fox@examiner.net

Posted Apr. 3, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Apr 3, 2013 at 2:04 AM

By Jeff Fox - jeff.fox@examiner.net

Posted Apr. 3, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Apr 3, 2013 at 2:04 AM

Independence, MO

The Grain Valley Chamber of Commerce is trying something new – a farmers market to be held on Fridays this spring and summer.

“It will be the only Friday evening market east of the Crossroads,” chamber interim Executive Director Zach Pross says.

It will be held from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays from May through September. (Now that warm April is at last here, May seems possible, doesn’t it?) It will be in the parking lot at 1400 S.W. Eagles Parkway on the south side of the city.

New store at mall

A new store is set to open today at Independence Center.

Kirkland’s, which sells home decor items, replaces Chico’s, J. Jill’s and Coldwater Creek near the mall’s main entrance off 39th Street,

The mall, owned by Simon Property Group, says it has more than 130 stores and restaurants. This spring it’s also adding the Earthbound Trading Company, the first in the Kansas City area. The store, with gifts, home décor, jewelry and apparel, will be on the lower level near Macy’s.

Tally those taxes

Taxes cost us in several ways, of course. There’s the bite on the paycheck and then settling up with Uncle Sam and the state of Missouri by April 15. There’s also the time and hassle of just preparing your taxes. I don’t know about you, but I find myself being more mindful – and occasionally resentful – about “time taxes” more and more as the years pass.

But mostly it’s about the money, and the folks who track these things say Missourians enjoy “Tax Freedom Day” next Monday, April 8. That’s a way of saying that, on average, a Missouri taxpayer needs to send in every penny earned from Jan. 1 to April 8 just to satisfy the year’s local, state and federal taxes, according to the Tax Foundation. Missouri is a relatively low-tax state, and its tax freedom is well ahead of most other states.

The latest Tax Freedom Day is in Connecticut, May 13. That’s No. 1. Missouri is No. 37. And the earliest? It’s a tie – March 29 – between Mississippi and Louisiana.

For the country as a whole, Tax Freedom Day is April 18, five days later than last year. But what if we actually paid enough taxes to pay for the services we enjoy, much of it through deficit spending? What if we actually closed the deficit? That would push the date back to May 9, says the foundation. Ouch.

Jeff Fox is The Examiner’s business editor. Reach him at jeff.fox@examiner.net. Follow him on Twitter @FoxEJC.